The fascinating creation of beeswax: A look behind the scenes

Beeswax is an amazing natural product that is used to make candles and many other products. But have you ever wondered how beeswax is actually made? In this blog post, we take you on an exciting journey into the world of honey bees and show you how they produce this valuable material.

The main actors: honey bees

The creation of beeswax is closely linked to the life of honey bees. These small insects live in hives that consist of honeycombs. The honeycombs serve as a storage place for honey and pollen and as a breeding ground for the next generation of bees. To build the honeycombs, the bees produce beeswax.

The wax producers: worker bees

The worker bees, female bees that are neither queen nor drones, are responsible for wax production. They have special glands in their abdomen that secrete wax. These so-called wax glands are located on the undersides of the last four abdominal rings and are most active in worker bees between 12 and 18 days old.

The process of beeswax extraction

The wax glands produce small wax scales that come out of the abdomen of the bees. The bees collect the scales with their mouthparts and chew them to make them softer and more malleable. Chewing also adds some enzymes that help give the wax its sticky consistency.

Once the wax is soft and pliable, the bees use it to build the honeycomb. They shape the wax into thin plates and place them in the right places in the honeycomb structure. By joining the plates together, the characteristic hexagonal cells are created, which give the honeycomb its stability and efficiency.

Harvesting beeswax

Beekeepers harvest the beeswax by removing the honeycombs from the hives and extracting the honey. The wax is then separated from the honeycombs, melted, and purified to remove impurities. The resulting purified beeswax can then be used to make candles, cosmetics, and many other products.

Beeswax candles from Sternkerze